The Great Egg Shipping Experiment!

[ronott1]

I was shipped a package of Pita Pinta and EO marraduna Basque hen eggs!

One egg had a crack in it but the other 11 were in great shape! I have 9 Pita Pinta and 2 Basque hen eggs....I am excited!

 

[pickitfarm]

I was shipped a package of Pita Pinta and EO marraduna Basque hen eggs!

One egg had a crack in it but the other 11 were in great shape! I have 9 Pita Pinta and 2 Basque hen eggs....I am excited!

What is a Pita Pinta? is that a chicken or some other kind of fowl? Never heard of it.

 

[ronott1]

What is a Pita Pinta? is that a chicken or some other kind of fowl? Never heard of it.

They are from Spain and are a Chicken. The name means painted hen. This is the flock I got the eggs from:





Megan hatched these several weeks ago!

 

[kodster]

Wisher, I counted 1 day after 24 hours then day 2, etc. and so on. Day 21 was yesterday late afternoon. I now have 4 hatched all out of the White Leghorn & White Leghorn cross eggs. The Marans, Lavender Amerucanas, & Black Australorps are just laying there. Is that normal? One breed hatching earlier? Things in the Bator must have been pretty good to hatch the WL's. I have a Dickey 2X2 incubator and temp & humidity have stayed pretty constant. Thanks!

I am still hoping for something from the other eggs. The Eggs that are hatching and the Marans eggs were shipped together by the same person so they were exposed to the same exact trip with the same bumps if there was any.

Dan

If you set the eggs anytime after 12 pm, then it's considered Day 0 for that hatch. You count the next day as Day 1. It's confusing, but that's how the Agriculture Depts at the state colleges determine hatch days.

 

[kodster]

Yeah! It did not make any sense at all. He had called me on my cell phone at 6:15am to tell me my eggs had arrived and I had already had a lengthy conversation earlier in the week with him about the jolts & abuse these eggs seem to endure on their journey.

When I saw him purposely shaking them I was instantly PO'ed! What a moron!

Dan

Report the moron to the Postmaster/Postmistress! That's the head of the local post office management. They'll fire his *** for it!

 

[pickitfarm]

The Pita Pinta are gorgeous! This is the first I ever heard of them. When it comes to finding new and rare chickens it is like keeping up with "The Jones" you got to have them. I am in control.

 

[Wisher1000]

Let me start by saying that this thread is not over. I still want anyone and everyone interested in learning to ship eggs or in improving their shipping techniques to participate with us here. I will not have any fertile eggs for a while thanks to a hungry coyote who took my two roosters and several hens, as well. I will still be interested in hearing about any and all 'experimental' techniques and will be thrilled if anyone can come up with ways to improve upon current methods of shipping eggs in a cost effective manner.

So far, what I have learned from the experiment is this:

Packaging makes a huge difference. Done carefully and correctly, it greatly increases the hatch-ability of the eggs shipped.

The trip, even for well packed eggs, is rough and will claim it's victims in spite of the best attempts of the shipper. Your package is in the hands of people who range from wonderfully caring and conscientious, to apathetic or intentionally destructive. These factors are beyond our immediate control.

Shipping eggs is expensive. It takes a lot of time and materials to collect, store, turn, search for the correct boxes, wrap, tape, acquire and stuff packing materials, tape the box, deliver it to the post office and pay the postage (all on a schedule, I might add.) No one is going to get rich shipping eggs. Most shippers won't make a profit at all. As a matter of fact, when you consider time and overhead, it costs the shipper money in the majority of cases.

Hatching shipped eggs is expensive. The money invested in purchasing the eggs and in shipping is a gamble for the buyer. You have to understand that you may get no live chicks. You have to factor in the losses. Then, after the time and expense it takes to incubate the eggs, each chick hatched costs you much more than you can buy them for at the feed store or from a hatchery or local breeder.

There are only two good reasons, in my opinion, to ship eggs. The first reason I see for shipping eggs is that there is no local source. It may be that you have or want a specific breed or quality that is not available within a reasonable driving distance. Or it may be that there are no fertile eggs available, at all! The other reason is for fun. You may have extra eggs and just want to help someone who wouldn't otherwise be able to get them. The best reward for me, when I shipped my humble eggs, was seeing pics of the chicks and knowing that they came from my birds and hatched on the other side of the country. The other reward was in the knowledge that I helped someone or just made them happy.

I highly recommend swapping. It is so much fun to get a package in the mail from an on-line friend that it really doesn't matter what is in it. I received several small gifts in return for my eggs and each was worth more than any amount of cash my eggs would bring. The item doesn't matter as much as the thought and effort behind it. Several times, when I asked if the person wanting eggs would be willing to swap for them, I was told, "I have nothing to swap." EVERYBODY can find something to swap! Think about things that you have or can get that are not available everywhere. Plants, ball bearings, seeds, driftwood, shells, pine cones, crafts, cooked or canned goods, toys, knickknacks, clothing, fishing tackle, storage containers, feathers, colored bottles, rocks, lawn ornaments, etc. If you get a deep discount where you work, pass that on to someone, either buy it for them or at a low price. On-line gift certificates or subscriptions are great as well. You can add to someone's collection of pins, patches, poker chips, buttons, matchbooks, dice, beads, spoons, thimbles, swizzle sticks, business cards, or ________ (fill in the blank!) OPPS! Sorry, I got off topic there, oh, look! A chicken........

Please continue to join this thread with your own adventures in egg shipping and PLEASE post pictures of the chicks through their lives. We want to see the eggs laid by the chickens that were hatched from shipped eggs! That brings us full circle.

Thank you so much to everyone who has participated up to this point, whether you shipped, received, contributed with posts or just read, I appreciate you more than I can say. My special thanks to Ronott (who accidentally sparked this whole idea,) to Superchemicalgirl, (who has become a dear friend,) and to Jessshan8 (for his endless generosity and help.)

Happy hatching!

 

[pickitfarm]

Thank You Wisher1000! Sorry to hear of your loss. This is my first forum on BYC. It gathered so many with a lot of experience and/or cheering that made my first hatch exciting and successful. Ron has been very generous in providing his experiences and knowledge. I have recommend this forum as well as Ron the last couple of days on other forums because they were seeking what this one provides. I find this forum educational and friendly. Everyone here is trying to help everyone else and isn't that what it is all about at the end of the day.

 

[BunnyMomma]

I am really thankful that you started this thread and have invited us to share in this experiment. I have really learned so much from everyone that has posted here and everything you said "Wisher" is so true. I have really met some incredible people because I ship eggs to help people to get some nice quality birds from my different breeds.

Shipping eggs has been so frustrating for me, because of the damage that occurs to packages in the mail. However, because of "this thread" I have really improved my shipping methods. A dear friend of mine also ships very rare and valuable eggs. We began noticing problems from occasional buyers that would try to get more eggs for free or make unreasonable demands of hatching egg sellers. Those incidents although few prompted me to write and offer a "Hatching Egg Policy and Guarantee" with all of my egg shipments.

Also, because of a damaged shipment of eggs, I have met a wonderful person here at BYC, from Oklahoma. She and I have become really good friends and I doubt that would have ever occurred if those eggs had made it to her in great shape the first shipment. Because I really wanted to help her get eggs shipped safely to her farm, I now have something more precious than any stupid chicken egg! A long lost sister from OK!

I have learned that it is important to remember that no matter the breed or rarity, an "egg is just and egg"!
Thank you Wisher for starting this thread~
BunnyMomma

 

[clfromok]

Thank you everyone that are the creators of this thread. Thanks to all who post & share experiences both good & bad. I don't feel so alone in my effort to learn the art of hatching Thank you to those whose friendship is invaluable! I look forward to meeting & building more friendships & thank God for the sister I've found in North Carolina!